22-year-old arrested in London church shooting that injured 4
London: A 22-year-old man was arrested after a seven-year-old girl was left fighting for her life after mourners opened fire as they left a church, London police said on Monday.
Gunshots rang out as mourners paid their respects to a mother and daughter at a church in Euston, central London, on Saturday afternoon.
“Detectives investigating a shooting outside a church in Euston have arrested a 22-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder,” the Metropolitan Police said.
The man was arrested in Barnet, north London, shortly before 4:00pm (1600 GMT) on Sunday and remains in custody.
Police believe the shots were fired from a moving vehicle.
The priest who conducted the service, Father Jeremy Truitt, told the PA news agency that it was a request for 20-year-old Sarah Sanchez and her mother, who both died less than a month apart in November.
The younger girl died of leukemia when her mother died of a blood clot on her way to Heathrow from Columbia, Mylondon news website reported.
“I heard this almighty thunder and I thought this is not normal, and the next minute everyone was screaming,” the neighbor told PA.
Besides a seven-year-old girl, 12 people, including four women and another girl, were injured in the incident near busy Euston train station.
A 12-year-old girl was treated for minor leg injuries and discharged from hospital.
A 21-year-old woman is also being treated at a central London hospital. Police said his injuries were not life-threatening.
Three women, aged 41, 48 and 54, remained in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, although the 48-year-old had “life-changing potential”, police said.
A witness told Mylandon that the shots were fired as mourners attending the mass watched the doves being released.
